ISSN: 2342-2009 Fafnir vol 1, iss 3, pages 7–18 Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research journal.finfar.org “Noble and Beautiful” – Universal Human Aesthetics in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia Nicholas Wanberg Abstract: C. S. Lewis believed that the best Christian writing should not aim to be original but should rather focus on borrowing and adapting from previous works. Unsurprisingly, Lewis's most popular work, The Chronicles of Narnia, shows the influence of a wide variety of sources. Beyond the better known mythological and Christian influences, the series also draws from Rider Haggard's works and the Lost World genre more generally. Many of these influences have led to accusations of racism against the works. To better understand such claims, this paper seeks to analyze one of the key elements fueling to such accusations, namely beliefs about human and humanoid aesthetics, which have historically taken on racist implications. In The Chronicles of Narnia, the narrator and characters alike treat questions of personal aesthetics as being objective assessments, and skin tone is shown playing a significant part in these judgments, with a certain variety of "fair" skin being ideal and deviations from this norm, whether becoming too red, too pale, too blue or too dark, being treated as unattractive. Aspects of the inner nature of characters is also frequently treated as being externally visible, and there is a strong, albeit imperfect, correlation between physical attractiveness and individual moral standing. Understanding these themes can lead to a better understanding of Lewis's works and serve as a warning for contemporary writers on the dangers of adopting themes uncritically. Keywords: Narnia, aesthetics, racism, Lewis, adaptation Biography and contact info: Nicholas Wanberg is a graduate of the English Philology program in the Department of Modern Language at Helsinki University. His current research focuses on the influence of evolving systems of modern thought, particularly racist thought, on the construction of fictional worlds. C. S. Lewis considered true originality to be “the prerogative of God alone” (Lewis “Literature” 21). Writers and other artists might, he conceded, be “original” in the very limited sense of not following in the footsteps of any human predecessors (23), but human creation, according to Lewis, is something that occurs only under divine direction. Even acting without human precedent, however, was something Lewis treated as essentially the last resort of those who could do no better (25). Better than to be original in any sense was for an artist to work “in an established form and dealing with experiences common to all his race” (25). Lewis saw building off the great works of the past as a noble enterprise, far nobler, in fact, than building from scratch. With this in mind, it is no surprise that Lewis was once amused to hear The Chronicles of Narnia criticized as being © 2014 Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (http://journal.finfar.org) 7 Wanberg Nicholas Universal Human Aesthetics in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia unoriginal (Watson 90). To Lewis, this must have come not as criticism but as praise, for being unoriginal was his full intention. In the construction of The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis's adaptation of other works is so in depth and takes such a broad sampling from other works and places that the scholarship attempting to document it is difficult itself to fully catalog. Mervyn Nicholson, to cite one example, has written numerous articles in recent years, pointing out various influences to the series, including finding highly in-depth links to such writers as E. Nesbit (“Scholarship”), Walter de la Mare (“Fairy Tales”), C. R. Martin (“C. R. Martin”) and James Stephens (“James Stephens”), among others, and has even linked as remote details as the naming of a minor animal character to a historic admiral in the Royal Navy (“Mole Admiral”). Influences, religious, literary and mythological, behind the works form the basis of countless other scholarly works since the release of the series, and examples of studies of this type continue to accumulate (for a few, more recent examples, see Brazier; Bruner and Ware; Downing; Duriez; Greggersen; Jacobs; Muth; Ward). These influences are so extensive, in fact, that of all the many fantasy races found within the works, Nicholson identifies only one as being truly original, namely the “Marsh-Wiggles” (“Mole Admiral” 485). Beyond influences from many diverse classic works and genres that are still followed and read today, however, Lewis also borrows from sources that have not stood so well against the tests of time. A great deal of critical ire has been roused by Lewis's inclusion of elements of the Lost World genre, for example, a genre most famous now for its racism and colonial worldview. In particular, the writings of Rider Haggard have been found to have had a strong influence on a number of scenes, themes and characters (Nicholson, "Scholarship") (though certainly not all such elements can be attributed there), including particularly strong influences on the construction and portrayal of the White Witch and the Calormenes. This portrayal of the Calormenes, Lewis's “wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel and ancient” (Chronicles 452) race of dark skinned peoples who dwell across a vast desert to the south of Narnia, has been the favorite target of these attacks. From non-scholarly sources, recent accusations of racism directed at The Chronicles of Narnia have been championed by Philip Pullman, one of Lewis's most vocal critics (Ezard; BBC; Pullman). Kyrie O'Conner has expressed doubts over The Horse and his Boy's adaptability to film on the same grounds, describing the work as “anti-Arab, anti-Eastern or anti-Ottoman.” Others have been likewise quick to acknowledge problems related to matters of race within the books (for an example, see: Miller, The Magician's Book), and even while speaking in defense of Narnia, Gregg Easterbrook has described the Calormenes, whom he identifies as “the principal bad guys,” as being “unmistakable Muslim stand-ins.” Although not giving as frequent or direct attention to such matters, the scholarly realm has been far from silent. Examples can be found such as James Russel's, who has seen the works as being an allegory of national and post-colonial myth, in which racial overtones are heavily applied (61–6), or that of Susan Rowland, who has seen even the Turkish delight as carrying an implicit racism of its own, while describing The Horse and his Boy as a “formidably anti-Arab story” (11). Defenders of the works have likewise been found in both places. A keynote address offered by Devin Brown of Ashbury College, for example, offers a good close reading that comes far closer than most others in addressing the actual points that would determine the presence of racism in the works, and he argues thereby that the stories are not at all racist.1 Mervyn Nicholon has also commented on accusations of racism directed toward Lewis, particularly with regard to The Chronicles of Narnia, calling them “at best an oversimplification and at worst a slander” (“Scholarship” 58). From my own study, and in terms of The Chronicles of Narnia, I would find 1 His point, for example, that there are both good and bad dwarfs successfully pins the question down to a matter of racial determinism, as well as getting past the common mistake of identifying racism as being purely a matter of cruelty directed based on skin tone. He fails to notice in his analysis, however, that while there are good and bad dwarfs, their moral dispositions are divided into good and evil according to distinct sub-races (Red Dwarfs and Black Dwarfs, respectively), confirming rather than refuting racial determinism. 8 © 2014 Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (http://journal.finfar.org) Wanberg Nicholas ISSN: 2342-2009 Fafnir vol 1, iss 3, pages 7–18 the prior charge of oversimplification to be quite accurate, while as for Lewis himself, I would, with few reservations, declare the latter. A comprehensive study of race and related concepts found in The Chronicles of Narnia would fill at least a book, if not several volumes, and I have previously offered at least a preliminary look at such themes (Wanberg), but as such are typically not the same themes addressed by most of Lewis's critics, and as my space is now considerably more constrained, I will not review them here. Rather, my intent now is to address one of the two issues that most of Lewis's critics really are talking about when they talk about racism in The Chronicles of Narnia, namely beliefs about human (or humanoid) aesthetics.2 In particular, my concern is with addressing the apparent belief in a universal ideal for humanoid appearance as found in the books, as well as looking at two of the specific trends that ideal follows. As many, if not most, elements in The Chronicles of Narnia are borrowings from other places, it seems likely that such elements are also borrowed, and contrasts between some such ideas and some of Lewis's other writings seem to confirm this. Moreover, the rules that govern at least one sub-pattern, namely correlations between beauty and high moral standing, are less consistent, so it is not unreasonable to speculate that they may be the result of themes borrowed from other places (a general ideal of attractive heroes and hideous villains, for example), rather than a specific belief on Lewis's part about the natural workings of the world. In support of these goals for this analysis, discussion will begin by looking at the origins of beliefs in universal human aesthetic ideals in society.